Department for Communities and Local Government

Staff

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how much his Department has spent on (a) consultants, (b) temporary staff and (c) contingent labour in each of the last five years; how many people have been so employed; what the length of contract of each such person was; and what equivalent civil service salary band each was on.

Kris Hopkins: My Department has made significant reductions to spending on consultancy, as the table below illustrates:   £ million2009-1036.62010-1113.82011-124.32012-131.12013-140.5The bulk of the 2010-11 spending was contractually committed under the last Administration, including consultancy on the last Administration’s failed FireControl programme.In answering the question on temporary staff and contingent labour, we have used the Cabinet Office definition for contingent labour (temporary staff) which includes administration and clerical agency staff, interim managers and specialist contractors. The use of such staff for short-term or specialist work can be better value for money than hiring staff on a permanent contract.My Department has spent the following on contingent labour:  £ million2009-1014.42010-114.62011-122.92012-134.52013-143.3My Department has cut spending significantly on contingent labour as a result of the tightening of its internal management controls, institutionalising these in its systems and adhering to Treasury and Cabinet Office spending rules. The saving in 2013-14 compared to 2009-10 is £11.1 million – a reduction of 77%.Details of the number of consultancy and temporary staff that have been employed, the length of contracts of each and their equivalent civil service salary can only be obtained at disproportionate cost.I would also observe that my Department has reduced total staffing costs from £218 million a year in 2009-10 to £95 million in 2013-14.

Community Relations

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to his Written Statement of 18 December 2014, HCWS154, on Integration Update, what estimate he has made of expenditure on each of his Department's integration projects and activities in (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12, (c) 2012-13, (d) 2013-14 and (e) 2014-15.

Stephen Williams: Holding answer received on 05 January 2015



I refer the rt. hon. Member to my answer of 23 January, Question UIN 219025.

Home Office

Illegal Immigrants: Employment

Mr David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many companies were fined for employing illegal immigrants in each of the last five years.

Mike Penning: An error has been identified in the written answer given on 04 February 2015.The correct answer should have been:

The information requested is shown in the following table. The figures are based on the number of civil penalties issued to individual employers during each of the last five complete financial years. This includes public and private limited companies, sole traders, partnerships and franchises. The government is committed to taking effective action against employers of illegal workers. Illegal working drives illegal immigration which leads to exploitation of workers and is also linked to non payment of the national minimum wage, harmful working conditions and tax evasion. Illegal working also undercuts legitimate businesses and adversely impacts on the employment of people who are lawfully resident in the UK.The government has therefore taken measures to strengthen our approach to rogue employers. In 2014, we doubled the maximum civil penalty that can be levied against an employer to £20,000 per illegal worker and we used the Immigration Act 2014 to make it easier to enforce unpaid penalties in the courts. We have also extended our enforcement reach by working more closely across government departments to identify where illegal working is taking place and to enforce a range of sanctions against employers of illegal workers.Financial year Civil penalties issued Employers issued with civil penalties 2009-102,3392,2542010-111,8991,8492011-121,3411,3172012-131,2701,2472013-142,1502,090

Mike Penning: The information requested is shown in the following table. The figures are based on the number of civil penalties issued to individual employers during each of the last five complete financial years. This includes public and private limited companies, sole traders, partnerships and franchises. The government is committed to taking effective action against employers of illegal workers. Illegal working drives illegal immigration which leads to exploitation of workers and is also linked to non payment of the national minimum wage, harmful working conditions and tax evasion. Illegal working also undercuts legitimate businesses and adversely impacts on the employment of people who are lawfully resident in the UK.The government has therefore taken measures to strengthen our approach to rogue employers. In 2014, we doubled the maximum civil penalty that can be levied against an employer to £20,000 per illegal worker and we used the Immigration Act 2014 to make it easier to enforce unpaid penalties in the courts. We have also extended our enforcement reach by working more closely across government departments to identify where illegal working is taking place and to enforce a range of sanctions against employers of illegal workers.Financial year Civil penalties issued Employers issued with civil penalties 2009-102,3392,2542010-111,8991,8492011-121,3411,3172012-131,2701,2472013-142,1502,090

Police: Translation Services

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to reduce translation and interpretation costs in police forces.

Mike Penning: The provision of translation and interpretation services is an operational matter for the Chief Constable of each force in England and Wales. These services fall into one of the categories in which Police and Crime Commissioners and Chief Constables have agreed to move to standardise specifications of their requirements and to aggregate buying power to improve the value for money they obtain.Under this Government, collaborative procurement of goods and services has delivered £200 million in savings for the taxpayer.

Department for Culture Media and Sport

Broadband

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 22 January 2015 to Question 221249, on broadband, what data has been made available to his Department on where the budget was spent.

Mr Edward Vaizey: Holding answer received on 02 February 2015



The total cost of the Government's national superfast broadband awareness campaign is £8million. This includes the media buying costs (e.g. the airtime for TV/press adverts etc) as well as production costs for adverts (TV/radio/digital/out of home), photography, fees, social media activity and a toolkit of materials for local authorities. The current breakdown per media spent so far is as follows (net costs): Television£2,398,000Video on Demand£284,000Out of Home (posters)£2,000,000Press (national and regional)£828,000Radio£300,000Digital£928,000It is not possible to get a regional split for all the media bought as the campaign was bought on a national basis. I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 15 January 2015 to Question 219653.

Local Press

Ian Paisley: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if he will launch an inquiry into the future of local newspapers; and if he will take steps to prevent further closures of such newspapers.

Mr Edward Vaizey: There are currently no plans to launch an inquiry into the future of local newspapers, but we are actively considering steps to protect the vibrancy and diversity of this vitally important sector.

Ministry of Justice

Advertising

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what his Department's advertising budget was in each financial year from 2010-11 to 2014-15.

Mike Penning: The department’s advertising budget is shown in the table below: Financial Year Area Total Advertising Budget 2010- 2011 MoJ Advertising £0 2011- 2012 MoJ Advertising £0 2012- 2013 MoJ Advertising £0 2013- 2014 MoJ Advertising £0 2014 -2015 MoJ Advertising £0.35m * The advertising budget in 2014-15 was allocated for Restorative Justice and Family Mediation. Unlike a number of the issues we deal with, we felt these two campaigns would most benefit from a small amount of paid for social media and digital advertising activity.The budgets shown above do not include spend on recruitment advertising as records are not held centrally.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

Business: Education

Mr Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to page 23 of Growth is our Business: A Strategy for Professional and Business Services, published in July 2013, what progress has been made towards achieving the stated aim of linking professional and business service businesses with the education sector, including through the National Careers Service; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to page 21 of Growth is our Business: A Strategy for Professional and Business Services, published in July 2013, what progress has been made towards achieving 10,000 higher apprenticeship starts; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to page 21 of Growth is our Business: A Strategy for Professional and Business Services, published in July 2013, what steps he has taken to increase the diversity of entry to the professional and business services sector; and what effect those steps have had.

Mr Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to page 21 of Growth is our Business: A Strategy for Professional and Business Services, published in July 2013, what estimate he has made of changes in the number of higher apprenticeships in the professional and business services sector since the launch of that strategy.

Mr Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to page 21 of Growth is our Business: A Strategy for Professional and Business Services, published in July 2013, what estimate he has made of changes in the number of higher apprenticeships offered in the professional and business services sector.

Mr Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to page 15 of Growth is our Business: A Strategy for Professional and Business Services, published, in July 2013, what the outcome was of the report to Government, planned for the third quarter of 2014, on the role of professional bodies and how public confidence can be ensured by demonstrating adherence to the highest professional standards; and if he will publish the actions arising from the report.

Mr Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to page 15 of Growth is our Business: A Strategy for Professional and Business Services, published in July 2013, what barriers to both the adoption of flexible business models and the development of stronger partnerships between specialist firms have been identified; and what steps have been taken to remove such barriers by the stated deadline of the second quarter of 2014.

Mr Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to page 21 of Growth is our Business: A Strategy for Professional and Business Services, published in July 2013, what estimate he has made of changes in the number of applications to higher apprenticeships in the professional and business services sector.

Mr Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to page 8 of Growth is our Business: A Strategy for Professional and Business Services, published in July 2013, what the outcome was of the repeat of the regional outreach consultations, planned to take place in the latter part of 2013; and what steps his Department took in response to that consultation.

Matthew Hancock: These questions ask about progress in implementation of some actions from “Growth is our business: a strategy for professional and business services”, published in July 2013 as part of this Government’s industrial strategy. This strategy was developed in collaboration with the professional and business services sector, addressing the industry’s agenda for long term growth. The Professional and Business Services Council has oversight of the development and now the implementation of the strategy. A business-led Skills Taskforce for professional and business services is providing leadership on the sector’s key priorities in skills development. It will report shortly on progress. The strategy aims to expand recruitment routes into the professional and business services sector, in particular through higher apprenticeships. There is a target to increase higher apprenticeship starts across the sector to 10,000 per annum by 2018. The Skills Taskforce is encouraging the development of new, employer-led apprenticeship standards in professional and business services. Standards are being developed for ten major occupations across the sector. These standards will help the sector move towards the 2018 target. The latest published annual figures show that there were around 4,500 higher level apprenticeship starts in occupations across the professional and business services sector in England in the 2013-14 academic year compared to zero in 2009/10. New apprenticeship entry routes are intended as a means for the professional and business services sector to access a wider, more diverse recruitment pool in the years to come. The Skills Taskforce has supported the London Professional Apprenticeship, an innovative regional scheme to open up apprenticeships in these occupations to a wider set of young people in London, and also Access to Accountancy, which aims to increase opportunities in the profession to young people from underprivileged backgrounds. Half of those starting higher apprenticeships in professional and business services during the 2013-14 academic year were aged 25 or over. Leading businesses in the sector report that recruiting apprentices has indeed enabled them to access a more diverse talent pool from a wider range of socio-economic backgrounds. The sector strategy also aims to help professional and business services firms interact with the education system to raise aspirations and promote work readiness. The Skills Taskforce has been mapping current activity of this kind to identify good practice. Professional and Business Services Council member firms engaged with schools in 32 of the 39 English Local Enterprise Partnerships during 2014. The Professional and Business Services Council now has a rolling programme of regional outreach to business communities to communicate about the sector strategy and its implementation. During the last year, the Department has participated in six events around the country to help build this engagement. An additional workshop specifically for small firms was held in London and UK Trade & Investment delivered a seminar to help professional and business services exporters as part of the Liverpool International Festival of Business. Further regional outreach events are being planned. The Professional and Business Services Council has been developing its views on the regulation of the sector, the associated role of adherence to high professional standards, and where there may be barriers to new business models. It is pursuing consultation with the wider sector on these issues.